Industry / General

Global have acquired yet more festivals which now makes them the 2nd largest festival operator in the UK. On this week’s menu are the tasty Victorious & Hideout festivals. Their portfolio has now got 15 festivals under it’s belt including Rewind, Glass Butter Beach, Standon Calling, Kendal Calling, Y-Not, Truck, Festival No. 6, South West Four, Boardmasters, Lost Village, Electric Elephant, Snowbombing…

The Government has made a welcomed amendment to the Digital Economy Bill which will see the use of ticket bots now classified as a criminal offence with unlimited fines. FINALLY.They are also accepting recommendations from Professor Waterson’s review which called for the secondary sites to put tougher anti-bot measures in place as well as reporting bot attacks and stronger enforcement of consumer…

Recently the Head Gardener (Freddie Fellowes) made the shock announcement that this year’s Secret Garden Party would be the last. What started out as a party for a few hundred people 15 years ago, grew into one of the most treasured & creative boutique festivals and it is going to leave a huge gap on the UK festival calendar. In his statement…

Gorillaz haven’t played a live show in seven years but that’s going to change on the 10th June when they headline the new festival Demon Dayz which they’re also curating. The festival is taking place at the amusement park Dreamland in Margate. The full lineup has yet to be announced but tickets have gone on sale and include admission to the theme…

Greenbelt festival have recently won 3 awards for sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility setting the bar high for other UK festivals to follow suit. They won a Greener Festival award for sustainability, a Rainbow award for inclusion and the Gold award from Attitude is Everything for accessibility, an award only previously handed out to Glastonbury. “To qualify for Charter status, live music venues…

Powerful Thinking launched the Smart Energy for Festivals and Events guide at the Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI9) last week.The guide is an essential read for all event professionals and provides a wealth of knowledge and inspiration including: 24 factsheets on specific topics, two resource packs, briefing sheets for staff and stakeholders, over 10 new case studies and links to…

A recently published Global Ticket Market report by Technavio predicts the average growth rate of the live music ticketing industry to rise by 6.92% from 2016 to 2021. This means the global value of this particular market will be worth US$24.55 billion in 2021. The fastest growing sector when it comes to tickets is film followed by music and then…

The British Government has appointed 11 ‘sector champions’ to help make the UK music industry more inclusive for the disabled. One of the appointed ‘champions’ is Attitude is Everything founder & CEO, Suzanne Bull who has been championing better access for the disabled at gigs and festivals for several years. “I’ll be making a solid business case for accessibility and will be…

40 Festivals and organisations met on the 26th January to shape the future of the Festival Vision: 2025. Hosted by Chair of Powerful Thinking, Chris Johnson and Julie’s Bicycle founder and CEO Alison Tickell, the day included presentations from Richard Gilles, former Sustainability Director at M&S and Director of Festival On The Wall, ZAP Concepts event sustainability consultants Rob Scully and…

Friend of AIF and festival wristband provider ID&C has launched its 7th annual Grass Roots Festival Bursary, giving small-to-medium festivals in the UK a chance to receive £2500 worth of security wristbands and credentials. Apply for the 2017 Grass Roots Festival Bursary here: https://www.idcband.com/grass-roots/ More than 50 festivals applied for last year’s bursary, which is open to any UK festival that has operated for…